


Arduous

by EliteKilljoy, Lord_of_the_bas



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dry Humping, Grinding, M/M, Mildly Dubious Consent, Rhys as Jack's PA, like Jack is sleeping but Rhys didn't know, most of the other characters are minor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-15
Updated: 2018-01-24
Packaged: 2018-11-14 13:10:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11208729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EliteKilljoy/pseuds/EliteKilljoy, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lord_of_the_bas/pseuds/Lord_of_the_bas
Summary: Rhys had always been a huge fan of Handsome Jack. It was more than just a healthy respect for his boss at this point; this was borderline hero worship. That’s why, when the CEO called specifically to have Rhys employed under him as his personal assistant, Rhys was more than ecstatic.When a large sum of money goes missing from Jack's personal account--putting a huge bump in his top secret plan--he forces Rhys, Vaughn, and Vasquez with him to go retrieve the money from a location tracked to Pandora. A simple retrieval mission turns into a huge mess when a mysterious man becomes involved and Jack refuses to tell Rhys what his secret plan is.





	1. A Part of Something Bigger

**Author's Note:**

> **EliteKilljoy:** So this fic is actually heavily modeled after a roleplay that Bas and I have (it is still ongoing and has been for about eight months at the time of this being posted), so look forward to a LOT of this fic in the future! Since the roleplay is still going on, I expect this fic to get looooong. It's one of my favorite roleplays I've ever done, so I hope you all enjoy it in fic form!

Rhys had always been a huge fan of Handsome Jack. It was more than just a healthy respect for his boss at this point; this was borderline hero worship. That’s why, when the CEO called specifically to have Rhys employed under him as his personal assistant, Rhys was more than ecstatic. Handsome Jack had been taking applications for a PA position, Rhys of course had the best resume. He had worked overnight on the pages. Poor Vaughn stayed up with him all night to make it perfect. Handsome Jack probably agonised over who to choose until he came upon Rhys’ perfect application. Rhys could just imagine Handsome Jack’s eyes lighting up as he had finally found the ideal man for the job. Or, you know, Handsome Jack had thrown the papers in the air and picked the first one that he found. That sounded way more like his boss. 

The past five months in his new position had been the best of Rhys’ life. Rhys was no longer doing much work of importance for the company--instead, he working right under Handsome Jack, basically as a secretary--but he still preferred it to his old programming job simply because it meant spending nearly all of his time around his idol. He had learned that it wasn’t all fun and games, though. Handsome Jack was a hassle to reign in to get work done. The man would let paperwork pile on his desk before shoving it off on Rhys. Handsome Jack also had a low firing rate, most likely because Handsome Jack preferred to kill whoever didn’t do their job. The possible death stressed Rhys out more than the boring paperwork that would take him a day to go through.

When he heard the CEO’s voice over the intercom ordering him to his office a few minutes ago, Rhys was both excited and nervous. It wasn’t strange for Handsome Jack to call for him, but it was usually only for something important and that worried him a bit. It often meant more work for Rhys when Handsome Jack changed their plans and as annoying as that was, it also made Rhys feel needed. He was necessary to the company, and to Handsome Jack.

So Rhys found himself there in front of Handsome Jack’s office door, a place not just anyone in the company was allowed. Rhys looked into a window at his reflection and made sure his clothing and hair looked okay and then took a deep breath.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t Handsome Jack’s PA, or should I say peice of ass?” Vasquez chuckled to himself, turning to the side a bit and not-so-subtly fist pumped to himself. “Good one, Vasquez.”

Rhys’ face dropped. Why now? He slowly turned and saw his mortal enemy: Hugo Vasquez. The man had been vying for the same position of executive before Rhys had gotten promoted to Handsome Jack’s PA. Vasquez had also sent in an application, but Handsome Jack obviously picked the better man. “Hello, Vasquez. What brings you to the important side of Hyperion?”

Vasquez scowled briefly before his cocky expression returned. “Oh Rhys, you poor thing. Handsome Jack called me here. It seems we have some business to attend too.” He walked forward and patted Rhys’ cheek. “Why don’t you fetch the important people some coffee?” Vasquez got closer to Rhys’ face. Rhys could smell the man’s cheap cologne more than before. “After all, it’s not like Jack will be needing your services for the evening.” Vasquez straightened up and started walking into Handsome Jack’s office.

Rhys stood still for a moment, the comment--while hurtful--was a normalcy from the others. Rhys’ face twisted as he took long strides after Vasquez to catch up. “As it happens, Assquez, Handsome Jack called me here, too.” Rhys repeated the condescending pat on the cheek. “Let me show you around, it’s your first time up here, right? I would hate for you to be caught in one of the traps in there.” 

Rhys lead Vasquez into the office, a certain swagger in his walk, and knocked on Handsome Jack’s office door. The man hated when Rhys came in without knocking. Usually it was because Handsome Jack was slacking off and he hated being caught with his pants down, sometimes literally.

Luckily for the two inferiors, their boss had decided against rubbing one out and looked to be actually getting some real work done for once. He sat there, hunched over the mounds of paperwork on his desk--paperwork that would be soon passed off to his personal assistant--and appeared to be busy writing on a chart. Upon closer inspection, one would find that Handsome Jack was really just doodling weapons of ass destruction. The CEO looked up from his “work” as the two entered and discretely stuffed the chart under some other papers so his subordinates wouldn’t see. Not that he really cared if they saw.

Handsome Jack was the type of man that demanded respect without needing to say a word. His presence alone was enough to silence a room, despite his average height and stature. The mask of his own face that he wore constantly helped him to hide his emotions, though that wasn’t exactly difficult for Handsome Jack. He was basically the pinnacle of “conceal, don’t feel.” To an outsider, the mask would possibly be frightening or gross: a fleshy false face was something typically only seen on the psychos down on Pandora, not worn by the CEO of a megacorporation.

The man leaned back in his chair, propping his booted feet up on his desk and crossing his arms. It seemed like multiple minutes passed as he stared the two down, almost like he was waiting for one of them to say something. Just as Vasquez opened his mouth to speak, Handsome Jack interrupted him.

“Thanks for coming, kiddos,” he said, as if they really had a choice. Handsome Jack’s voice wasn’t how one would expect. It sounded like he was always about to say the best punchline of a joke, like he was always poking fun at something. “You two better be in for a treat, because I’ve got something juicy for you today.”

With that, Handsome Jack stood and made his way around to the front of his desk, leaning against it casually, as if he wasn’t the president of one of the largest companies in the universe. Though his exterior said “we’re old friends,” Rhys and Vasquez knew that their relationships to their boss was anything but.

“Come on, now, don’t be shy. Take a seat.” Handsome Jack motioned to two seats before him, both facing the desk. They normally weren’t there in the office, so they must’ve been placed there specifically for the meeting that day. Rhys and Vasquez took their seat quickly and turned their attention to Handsome Jack. “Now, let's get to business.” Handsome Jack clapped his hands together. “You two are going to work together and find me five billion dollars. I need it to fund a top secret project, but I don’t have the time to spare of the boring parts of it.” Handsome Jack waved his hand dismissively. 

Rhys froze and turned his head stiffly in Vasquez’s direction. I have to work with him? He sent a pleading look in Handsome Jack’s direction but it went ignored. If anything, the smug look on his boss’s face got worse. “Do we have a time frame?” Rhys asked, swallowing thickly. He didn’t want to spend anymore time with Vasquez than necessary.

“Glad you asked, cupcake.” Jack pushed off of the desk and made his way back to his chair. “You have a week do get it done,” he said, relaxing back into his chair. “Now get the hell out, would ya?” He looked toward his computer, a clear dismissal. 

The two made their way out the door. Once the door was closed, Rhys took a deep breath. Handsome Jack always knew just how to piss him off; his boss knew of his rivalry with the asshole, so why did he pair the two of them together? 

“Don’t get in my way, it will be bad for your health,” Vasquez said, his voice condescending. Rhys just crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.

“I’m sorry, are you trying to be intimidating? If so, you need to work on your delivery.” Rhys started to walk away. He didn’t need to stand here talking with a dickhead if there was work to be done. Vasquez let him go, but Rhys knew that this wasn’t the last time he was going to hear from the asshole. It was going to be the longest week of his life. 

* * *

Rhys was in Handsome Jack’s office again later that day. He was getting the place set up for a meeting that should be taking place soon. Rhys was burning with questions, but didn’t know how to ask Jack. He was standing in front of the desk when a glint of gold that wasn’t there before caught his eye. “What is that?” Rhys blurted out before he could stop himself. Handsome Jack’s head lifted up from his work and turned to Rhys. 

“What is what? You have to be specific, kiddo, my office has a lot of cool shit in it,” Handsome Jack said, leaning back in his chair. Rhys felt a little strange, having his boss’ full attention on him. He swallowed and pointed to the…whatever on Jack’s desk.

“That thing. It wasn’t here earlier today.” Handsome Jack looked at Rhys in surprise before picking up the thing in question.

“Oh, this thing. It's a robot arm, Rhysie. You’d think that you of all people would know what those look like.” Handsome Jack waved the arm around in the air for a moment, a smirk firmly in place on his face. 

“Okay, but why do you have it? Are you thinking about cutting off your arm too?” Handsome Jack barked out a laugh. 

“No, no. Its part of something bigger. Don’t worry your pretty little head over it.” Rhys felt like there was a lot of things his boss wasn’t telling him, but he let it go. Did Handsome Jack think he was pretty? “Ah, and Rhysie. Remember what I told you about standing there? What if I accidentally pressed a button and you fell down my Jack Hole?” Rhys rolled his eyes again but walked around to his place behind Handsome Jack’s desk to take notes. 

“Then you would have to train another PA. You just love doing that, don’t you?” Rhys commented sarcastically, thinking back to his first few weeks in his new position. Jack basically threw everything at him at once and threatened to airlock him every few minutes. Over time, Rhys learned things the hard way, but got better at his job. At this point he would like to think he was irreplaceable. He was the only PA Handsome Jack had kept for this long. Five months didn’t seem like that big of a deal, but being around Handsome Jack almost 24/7 seemed to decrease lifespans.

Handsome Jack gave Rhys a pointed look before returning to his work. He spoke to his assistant without taking his eyes off of the papers in front of him. “True, but who knows, it could be a good thing. It would get you out of my hair and maybe I would like my new assistant more. It could be someone less…” Handsome Jack turned to Rhys again and looked him up and down. “...you?” The CEO finished with a smirk to let Rhys know that he wasn’t _too_ serious.

Rhys rolled his eyes at his boss. “The new guy can deal with all your paperwork, then.” Rhys organized the papers in front of him with a pout. He was used to Handsome Jack’s words, but that didn’t mean he was any less offended. He looked down at the meeting outline as a distraction for a moment. Gross, another strip club. “This guy is almost five minutes late.”

“I know, and if he doesn’t get here right now, he is going to get a gun to his face.” Handsome Jack let out a sigh and propped his legs up on his desk again. 

“You should at least airlock them, less mess,” Rhys said in a bored tone. He had a stack of papers on his desk and a lunch plan with Vaughn and Yvette to get to. His friends didn’t usually mind if he was late; Well, Yvette definitely did, but Rhys didn’t get much time for his friends now that he was on call for Handsome Jack, who was surprisingly needy for a guy who kills people. 

“Also less fun,” the CEO mused with a small smirk. Handsome Jack never seemed too concerned with killing off his employees. There was no way he would get in trouble for it--who would even think to cross Handsome Jack?--and there was always a swarm of chumps that would run in to replace the people that were killed. There was basically an unending source of idiots in the universe.

Just as Rhys was about to reply, the door slammed open. A fat man with a silly moustache stormed in, right up to the front of Handsome Jack’s desk. Rhys recognized him as the head of the outreach department, Mr. Maverick: a man in charge of business partnerships and new corporation investments. Despite his power, this man still required Handsome Jack’s approval on all future business ventures.

Unfortunately for Maverick, Rhy could already see the disgust in his boss’ face. He could easily tell that Handsome Jack was annoyed with the man in front of them, possibly because he was late or because of the way he entered or maybe Handsome Jack had a temper that day. Whatever the reason, Rhys could clearly see a vein in the CEO’s temple popping and his clenched jaw, even from his position beside him. He hoped for Mr. Maverick’s sake that the man recognized these signs and apologized quickly. Maybe it would save some of Handsome Jack’s wrath.

“Sir,” the man began, at least intelligent enough to not call Handsome Jack by anything else. “I’ve come to present a new business proposal to you. All of us think that it’ll be a great investment, with a gross annual profit of up to $857,750, give or take. We believe--”

Handsome Jack held up his hand to silence Maverick, who immediately complied. The CEO moved his legs off of his desk and leaned forward to put his elbows on his desk. “What is this business? Hurry up and spit it out.”

“Of course, sir. It’s a new Pandoran strip club. If we purchased it from the current owner, I could see us beginning to turn a profit within four to five months, even quicker if you agree to be the face of the business.” Maverick spoke so confidently, like he was too stupid to see how annoyed Handsome Jack was with him. “Everybody would pay big money if they think there may be a chance of seeing Jack at a strip cl--”

“Oh, no. No no no. You are not insinuating what I think you are,” Handsome Jack said sternly, leaning back in his chair and wagging his finger a bit.

“Wha--? Sir?”

“I don’t like you, Mr. Maverick,” their boss said simply like it was just a normal conversation. Rhys could instantly see the color drain from the aforementioned Maverick’s face. He was sure Handsome Jack saw it, too, and was taking some kind of sick pleasure from seeing how terrified he was making a grown-ass man. “Do you really think that I--Handsome Jack--would sink low enough to have my face plastered all over a scummy Pandoran strip club? You propose this once every few months, and my answer has not changed.”

“Sir, if you would just consider-- This is a wonderful opportunity!”

“You’re really starting to _piss me off_ , Maverick!” Handsome Jack’s voice was stern and annoyed, like he was speaking through clenched teeth, and only raised slightly in volume. He rarely actually shouted, since he didn’t really need to to strike fear into people’s hearts. It was almost more scary when the man was calm. At least when he’s angry, you can see that you’re fucked.

“Jack--”

That was the last straw. Handsome Jack was irritated and Maverick continuing to beg was just pissing him off more. Without any warning, Jack slammed his fist against the armrest of his chair, pressing a hidden button that sent Maverick falling down a chute in front of the desk. A horrific scream echoed from the hole, followed by even worse noises that would make any normal person sick. Handsome Jack, however, looked unfazed as he removed his fist from the button to shut the trap doors.

Rhys sighed. Though the sound of death was common, Rhys still had a hard time of getting the noises out of his head after. He preferred the airlock because he couldn't hear them after the doors shut. Rhys shook his head to get rid of the more unpleasant thoughts. “Should we continue on with the meeting then?”

“Go, leave,” Handsome Jack interrupted. He didn’t sound quite as angry anymore, at least not at his assistant. Instead, he actually sounded...slightly happy? The same cheerful tone was in his voice every time the man killed somebody. He leaned back to relax in his chair, propping his feet back up onto his desk.

Rhys sighed but got up and fixed his notes. He needed to get back to work anyways; if he fell behind he wouldn’t be able to make it to game night with Vaughn. “If you don’t need me, Sir, I will be going back to work.” Handsome Jack just waved Rhys off not bothering to look up. Rhys grabbed his things and made it halfway out of the room before his boss started talking again.

“Oh, and Rhysie?” Handsome Jack called out. “Call the janitors. They’ll need to be cleaning my Jack Hole.”


	2. Welcome to Pandora, Kiddos

Rhys was sorting his papers in his office, a sigh on his lips. This marked the his fourteenth hour of work, though he hasn't slept in twenty-four. Rhys put his head down on the desk, his eyes closing quickly. A few moments of rest wouldn’t kill him, right?

The intercom system always made a distinct, soft tone to alert everyone to an announcement. The noise sounded before a familiar, roaring voice assaulted the entirety of the station.

“ _Rhys, Vasquez, Vaughn-- Get your asses to my office NOW!_ ” Handsome Jack bellowed. The intercom made it’s ending noise, signalling the completion of the message.

Rhys’ head snapped up from his desk, papers flying everywhere. He looked up at the intercom in slight horror. Handsome Jack never yelled his name like that. Usually that tone meant… Rhys shuttered. He hoped it wasn’t him or Vaughn who got air locked. Rhys almost ran from his desk and out his office door. An angry boss was bad, but keeping him waiting was worse.

Rhys found Vasquez and Vaughn out in the hallway before Handsome Jack’s door. Vaughn looked terrified, the poor nerd shaking in his slightly expensive shoes. Vasquez tried to look calm, but the unkempt hair and the look of fear in his eyes gave him away.

“Good going this time, Rhys,” Vasquez spat, running a hand over his hair to smooth it. It was obvious that he was trying to look more collected than he actually was. His face was unusually pale and it looked like he just ran a marathon, probably because he sprinted from his office to Handsome Jack’s. “Not giving the boss man enough ass nowadays?”

“He called your name too, I don't think Handsome Jack has low enough standards to fuck you, Assquez.” Rhys spat, too tired to hold his tongue.

“Ah, Rhys. Are we going to die?” Vaughn’s voice shook, his glasses almost slipping off his face.

“I don’t know. I don't think so, at least.” Rhys ran his fingers through his hair. “We just have to go in and find out.” He knocked on the door; they got softer as they went on.

Handsome Jack heard the knocks and immediately told the three to enter with a short, “Come in.”

Rhys gave a look to Vaughn before he opened the door. Handsome Jack did not sound happy. He and the others quietly filtered into the office, heads low. Rhys gave a look to his boss, but decided that it was best to stay silent. 

Inside the office, Handsome Jack was pacing behind his desk. Anyone who even remotely knew the man would be able to tell that he was pissed off; something must have gone horribly wrong. His forehead above his mask was wrinkled and a vein on his neck was popping a bit from built up pressure. The skin around and under his mask was turning a bright crimson in anger. It also looked like the CEO hadn’t slept at all the previous night, based on his disheveled appearance.

“Come here.” It was a simple and stern command, one that Handsome Jack expected to be followed immediately.

Rhys and gave the others look before they all slowly walked forward to stand in a row in front of their boss’ desk. The PA gave the Jack Hole a weary look and made sure he and Vaughn stood well out of the way of where he knew the trapdoor was.

Handsome Jack finally turned to face all of them, taking note of their positions. He knew that Rhys was aware of the Jack Hole’s location and that he was likely purposely avoiding the possibility of imminent death, and that wouldn’t do. He turned to face the three and shook his head, silently motioning with two fingers for Rhys and Vaughn to scoot over onto the trap doors with Vasquez.

Rhys froze. This was not good. Rhys shuffled over into the danger zone reluctantly. His body felt like ice; he stared at Handsome Jack pleadingly. Rhys didn’t want to die next to Vasquez of all people.

The CEO stared them all down without saying a word. As terrifying as his shouting was, most people would agree that Handsome Jack’s silence was even scarier. The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown. Handsome Jack’s silence meant the unknown: was he angry enough to burst and shoot one of them? None of them knew.

Finally, after giving the three of them coronaries, their boss spoke. He was no longer shouting, but growling: perhaps more frightening. “A large sum of money has gone missing from my account,” he said, eyes flicking slowly between the three of them. “None of you happen to know anything about that, do you?”

Rhys took a moment to process what was going on. Who would have enough balls to steal from Handsome Jack? Rhys looked around at the other two. Vasquez was still frozen, but Vaughn had a look of realization on his face. His friend spoke up in a small voice.

“Um, sir. I think I was the one who sent the report?”

“You think I don’t know that?” Handsome Jack snapped, glaring in Vaughn’s direction. “Why do you think you’re here, genius?” Vaughn flinched back, more scared than ever.

Vasquez took a step forward. “I don't know anything about this, but I promise that I will do anything to make it better, sir.” He gave what he thought was a charming smile in Handsome Jack’s direction.

The man in question slammed his fists down on the desk in anger, causing a loud bang. “And _you_ are here because you’ve been caught hacking into the systems on multiple previous accounts,” he said, voice slowly rising in volume. “Can _anyone_ here give me a straight _fucking_ answer!”

Rhys cleared his throat, stepping a bit closer to his boss. “I haven’t heard about this until now, sir. I don’t think the others have either. Can I ask why you thought we would know anything?”

Handsome Jack decided to humor him. Why not? “Vaughn is a head accountant, it’s his _job_ to know the ins and outs of money here. Vasquez is a dick, and also has been accused of hacking into Hyperion systems in the past. And you, Rhys, are the closest to me. You would have the means to take what is mine, though perhaps not the capability.”

Vasquez made a move to defend himself, but one look from Handsome Jack made him quiet. Vaughn, though, seemed to have something to say. Rhys tried to stop him, but he was already too late.

“Sir, I sent the report in when I found the missing transaction. Due to the nature of the withdraw, I thought it came from one of research departments. The only thing that made me suspicious was that it all went to a bank account on Pandora.” Vaughn tried to contain his shaking.

Rhys looked over at his friend in surprise. Vaughn really did have a difficult job. He felt proud of his friend before Handsome Jack interrupted them.

“Pandora?” The man looked momentarily confused and he fell silent, staring down at his desk in thought. Something seemed to click in his head before Handsome Jack stood back up straight to address the three of them again. “Well, that settles it, then. The four of us are going to get my four billion dollars back from the Pandoran wasteland.”

“Why do you need us, sir?” Vasquez asked, trying to plead with Jack. “Surely you don't need all of us. Vaughn here seems to be the cause of this trouble.”

Rhys looked over at Vasquez with a dirty look. Vasquez was going to get them all killed; their boss was not a very forgiving person.

Handsome Jack swiftly picked up his Butt Stallion-shaped pencil sharpener and threw it at Vasquez’ face. It hit the bearded man square on the nose and he let out a pained cry. “I’ll give you one more chance to rethink what you just said. It won’t be a sharpener next time, it’ll be a bullet,” he warned.

Vasquez just shook his head, cowering a bit. “Sorry, sir. I'm sure Pandora is lovely this time of year.”

Rhys rolled his eyes. Yeah, they were all going to die down there. “When do we leave?” Rhys asked, turning back to the CEO. He didn’t like Handsome Jack being angry at him. Not once during this whole meeting had his boss used a nickname or a pet name for him. Rhys hadn’t even realized that Handsome Jack knew his actual name through all the “sweethearts.” He didn’t like being part of the normal employees again. He thought he had gained some leverage with his boss. Rhys liked being one of the people Handsome Jack tolerated.

“Tomorrow morning.” Handsome Jack seemed like he was calming down a bit; he was at least less angry at the three of them. It was almost like the man didn’t even suspect them as being the thieves anymore. Sitting down in his chair with a sigh, Handsome Jack waved his hand lazily. “Get out.”’

Vasquez and Vaughn scrambled for the door. They shut the door with a slam, leaving Rhys alone with Jack. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” Rhys gave his boss a nod, turning to leave. Rhys was put out that Handsome Jack still seemed upset at him. He justed wanted to be called “cupcake” or something.

As Rhys turned to leave, Handsome Jack glanced up to see him going. He considered not saying anything else, but called after him softly. “Make me proud, cupcake.”

Rhys was practically beaming. He turned back to look at Handsome Jack. Be cool, Rhys. You gotta be cool. “I always do, sir.” Rhys gave the CEO a soft smile before shutting the door. He slumped against the door with a long sigh. Working with Handsome Jack was shaving years off of his lifespan.

“What the hell was that?” Vasquez walked over to Rhys. “You had something to do with this, didn’t you?”

Rhys pushed off the door, standing tall against Vasquez. “Why would I steal from Handsome fucking Jack of all people?”

“Because you got tired of being fucked for your paycheck?” Vasquez rolled his eyes. “I don’t pretend to know how you whores think.”

Rhys turned red. None of it was true, of course. He got his job fair and square, but Rhys knew the rumors that followed him up the ladder. Rhys went from a lowly data miner, going nowhere fast, to being Handsome Jack’s personal assistant. He knew how it looked.

“Hey, Rhys would never get tired of fucking Handsome Jack,” Vaughn tried to defend his friend. Rhys subtly kicked Vaughn’s leg.

“Shut up,” he said lowly.

“I'm going to expose you. The big man upstairs won't be too happy to find his desk warmer with his four billion dollars.”

“You aren't going to find anything because I didn’t do it.” Rhys sighed. “I don’t have time to listen to your senile bullshit. I’ll get enough of you tomorrow.” He pulled Vaughn’s shoulder to get them moving down the hallway.

“Oh, you can never get enough of me,” Vasquez purred mockingly after him.

Vaughn fake gagged, throwing Rhys into a fit of laughter. “Wow, he really thinks highly of himself.”

“Yeah, now that he got that executive job, he thinks he is hot shit.” Rhys rolled his eyes, walking down the hallway to his own office.

“I don’t know why. It looks like he has a dead animal on his face.” Vaughn wiggled his eyebrows at Rhys. “You like your men smooth like metal, don’t ya, Rhys?”

“Shut up, the rumors are going to get worse.” Rhys stopped in front of his door. “Well, I guess video game night is going to have to wait, man.”

“Yeah, that's fine. Not dying is more important. I'll see you tomorrow, man, no worries.” Vaughn and Rhys shared a quick bro hug before parting ways. Rhys returned to his long list of paperwork, already thinking about the mess that would be waiting for him now that he has to stop everything and look for his boss’ money. He sat at his desk to get to work.

* * *

By the time morning rolled around, Rhys was a little dead inside. Between his work and nerves for the mission, he hadn’t slept a wink all night. He rolled out of bed with a groan, pulled on his clothes slowly, and slugged his way tiredly to the ship hanger where they were all supposed to meet.

Somewhere along the way, he ran into Vaughn who--somehow--looked even more corpse-like than Rhys. Knowing his best friend, Rhys was sure that Vaughn was up all night, too, pissing himself over the idea of going on an extended mission with the CEO. He wasn’t as used to the man as Rhys was, and even Rhys still had a very healthy fear of Handsome Jack.

They arrived together at the large hanger, where a mid-sized passenger ship lay in wait. Crewmen scurried around to prepare the ship: checking the engines, fueling, and packing essentials for the trip. Handsome Jack was already there, standing right outside the entrance to the cruiser, along with Vasquez, who had likely arrived early to get in good standing with their boss. Handsome Jack stood with his arms crossed as he watched Rhys and Vaughn approach. Vasquez side-eyed the CEO, leaned over to look at him, and copied his position.

As the two approached, Rhys noticed right away that Handsome Jack was in a much better mood than he was the day before. It didn’t look like any of them were in _immediate_ danger, at least. He let out a little sigh of relief and greeted Handsome Jack.

“Good morning, sir. Are we almost ready to take off?” Rhys asked, looking around. Usually it was his job to take care of things like this. Handsome Jack had been a bit more independent with his trips lately, though the fact that he thought Rhys was suspicious could be the culprit.

“Ah, there’s my adventure crew!” Handsome Jack said happily, opening his arms out in greeting as the final two advanced. He looked over his shoulder at the ship crew. “The ride better be smooth or _someone’s_ going to get _air locked_!” the man called out to scare them.

Rhys looked at the now-terrified crew members scattering about to finish things quickly. “Sir, I think they would work better if you didn’t threaten them with death. It's bad for the morale.”

Handsome Jack turned towards the voice, squinting his eyes a bit as he decided whether or not Rhys was giving a friendly suggestion or was trying to insult his encouragement methods. Deciding on the prior, Handsome Jack grinned and wrapped an arm around Rhys’ shoulder. “That’s my polite little subordinate,” he purred.

Rhys was turning red at the attention. Usually this kind of affection only happened at the office. He could see Vaughn’s shit-eating grin from the corner of his eye. Rhys looked up at his boss, deciding to just act like they were alone. “You know I'm not always polite, sir.”

The CEO looked up at Rhys with a little smirk, pulling the boy a bit closer as he spoke low, though loud enough for the others to hear. “That’s what I love about you.”

Rhys would deny the strangled cat noise that escaped his throat until the day he died. Vasquez stared at him, a mixture of disbelief and disgust crossing his face. Vaughn looked ready to bust from keeping in his laughter. Rhys cleared his throat and turned to the ship. “Um, it's time to get on, I think.”

Handsome Jack looked back at it and nodded, dropping his arm that was around Rhys and turning to board. “Let’s go, adventure crew!” He walked on ahead of the other three.

“Still saying you didn’t fuck your way to the top?” Vasquez spat when Handsome Jack was out of earshot.

Rhys rolled his eyes; he knew that was coming. “I'm not fucking Handsome Jack, this is just how he is as a person. If you were important enough to spend time with him, you would know.”

Vasquez looked constipated for a moment before speaking. “What, are you saying you know Handsome Jack better than all of us? I could tell you things about him that would ruin your image of your ‘hero.’ For example, did you know he has an ex-wife? And a daughter, some say.”

Rhys hesitated, looking around to see in the man in question was nearby. “The last guy who mentioned his ex-wife got strangled and while I would love to watch that happen to you, Handsome Jack seems to be in a good mood right now. You might want to keep him that way.” Rhys turned to get into the ship. He didn’t need Assquez of all people bringing up the no-no words in front of Handsome Jack.

Rhys walked in with Vaughn, Vasquez trailing in behind them. There was a seat next to Handsome Jack and two seats in front of him. Rhys looked at Vaughn for a moment before Vaughn won the bro of the year award by sitting in the other seat, leaving the one next to Jack open. Rhys gave his friend a smile and sat next to Handsome Jack. Vasquez sat next to Vaughn, but not before sending Rhys a dirty look for taking the seat.

“Buckle up, kiddos!” Handsome Jack exclaimed, way too happy about the situation. “It’s gonna be a long ride.”

Rhys smiled to himself before trying to buckle himself in. The buckle wasn’t laching, though. He made a face and struggled with it. Who the hell made these things so tough? Handsome Jack glanced over at Rhys, watching his struggle for a solid sixty seconds before he leaned over and buckled the other man’s seatbelt effortlessly. Rhys muttered a soft thanks to his boss, embarrassed that he couldn’t even handle a seatbelt.

The ride was long and surprisingly not bumpy, perhaps due to the threat from the CEO earlier. As the ship touched down much later, bright desert sun poured in through the windows and a distant scream could be heard. Handsome Jack smiled, looking around at each of his little crew.

“Welcome to Pandora, kiddos.”


	3. Project PHAEDRA

Rhys got out of the ship into the bright sunlight of Pandora. His professional work clothes clung immediately to his sweaty body. He wasn’t used to the actual outside, harsh sun burning his tender skin. He reached up and realized with slight horror that his hair was _deflating_. He hoped the next place they went had air conditioning. Rhys looked to the others to see how they were faring in the heat. Vaughn and Vasquez didn’t look much better, though Vaughn had forgone the work look and rolled up his shirt sleeves already.

Handsome Jack looked pristine as always, not a hair out of place as he looked around at the landscape with disdain. Rhys envied his confident stance while looking at the deadly planet. Rhys could already feel his skin crawling at the silhouette of a skag on the outside of town. No matter where he looked, all he saw was death, though working on Helios wasn’t much better. It was just a different kind of danger.

“Ah, gotta love the sweet smell of a shit planet in the morning. It's really the kind of thing you wanna bottle up and send back home to Mom.” Handsome Jack spoke with a small grin. “Anyway, I’ll go inform the pilot to take off.”

“Take off?” Rhys asked, trying desperately to hide the worry in his voice. Going into this, he knew that they would be away on Pandora for quite some time, but now they would be _trapped_. He could feel the panic start to settle in, the longer you stay on Pandora the more you have a chance of dying on Pandora.

“Locating a large, stolen amount of money can take some time, Rhysie,” the CEO said simply. “We can’t have the ship waiting here for us for weeks, now can we?” His tone was condescending, though whether it was serious or teasing was unclear. “Wait here, and don’t die while I’m gone. That would cause more legal trouble for the company than you three are worth put together.”

With that, Handsome Jack headed back for the ship, muttering to himself as he went. “To the cockpit. Cockpit. Cock...pit. Why do they call it a cockpit, anyway? There’s nothing fun about it like a cock or my Jack Hole.”

Rhys watched his boss leave with wry eyes. Rhys hoped he came back soon; some of the plants near them looked evil. He shuffled closer to Vaughn for comfort. Vasquez took another look around and scrunched up his face. “This place gives me the creeps.”

Rhys for once had to agree with Vasquez, something that would never happen again. He nodded his head, scanning the horizon for danger. “Lets just find this money and get back to civilization.”

Vasquez turned to Rhys, a smirk on his face. “You mean when _I_ find the money and get us back. Don’t think you are gonna steal my thunder, sweetcheeks.”

Rhys physically gagged at the name, making Vaughn erupt into soft laughter. “Leave the nicknames to Handsome Jack. He can at least pull them off.”

Hugo scowled, crossing his arms and glaring at Rhys. “Oh yes, you would know all about Handsome Jack _pulling things off_.” Rhys rolled his eye and decided to let it go. This wasn’t the first time Vasquez brought something like this up. The other man, smug at his win over Rhys, took in a breath and looked at the town they would be going into. The dark alleyways and shady people put off the others. “Why are we even here? Hyperion makes way more than 4 billion in a week. Why is it that important to get this money back?” Vasquez asked, leaning back against the spaceship.

“We make enough that I could easily terminate you and then hire a thousand more of people just like you,” Handsome Jack said a bit sourly as he walked up behind them. It was obvious that he didn’t enjoy being questioned, especially when dealing with something so important to him. His demeanor changed quickly, though, into an air of secrecy as he answered Vasquez’ question vaguely. “I need this money for Project PHAEDRA.”

The sentence raised more questions than it answered, but Handsome Jack didn’t wait around to hear them. The man immediately started for the town, walking calmly like they were on a nice vacation planet. He didn’t even turn around to check if the others were following, just expecting them to do so without him asking them to.

“Nice going,” Vaughn said, passing the flustered Vasquez and following Handsome Jack. Rhys had never heard of this project before. He was usually the one helping his boss with everything, so it was a surprise to hear this now. Rhys looked at Handsome Jack as he walked in front of him. Everytime Rhys felt like he was getting closer to the CEO, there was always something taunting him that he didn’t know.

When he first got the job, Rhys was a nervous wreck before he even got inside the office. Handsome _fucking_ Jack was who he was going to be working for directly. The man was a myth among men and Rhys was going to be in the same room as him. Often. After the first week of bumbling around and fearing for his life, he started to see more of the actual man behind the name. Rhys felt his hero worship turn into a real crush. He knew Handsome Jack at least tolerated him, though he felt like maybe they were at least friends? Rhys had seen his boss happy, tired, horny, mad, angry, and pissed (There are differences; Rhys learned them well.) Rhys could feel the gap between them growing. Or maybe it had always been there and Rhys had tricked himself into thinking he was important.

The walk to the city was deceptively a long one. The flat landscape made the distance seem much shorter than reality, so it took quite some time for the group to arrive. Still outside of the gate, Handsome Jack stopped suddenly in his tracks, holding up his arm to signal to the others to follow suit. Just ahead of them, no more than ten feet away, was a psycho digging through a pile of what looked like trash. Upon further inspection, it turned out the garbage was actually a large stack of dead bodies.

Vaughn noticed the sight faster than Rhys who was still sulking, grabbing his friend’s hand and freezing in the middle of the road. “Hey man what's--” Vaughn put his hand over Rhys’ mouth pointing frantically at the psycho and shushed his friend.

Rhys felt his body grow cold and he couldn’t look away from the sight. “God, that's sick.” His voice was thick. He wanted to look away but he really couldn't. Vaughn wasn’t doing much better, but Handsome Jack (unsurprising) and Vasquez (very surprising) were just looking at the thing like it was normal. Rhys knew that he wasn’t going to get this out of his mind or his nightmares for a very, very long time.

A wide grin spread across Handsome Jack’s face after a moment. He turned to the side so he could look at the others while still keeping the psycho within eyesight. The man spoke as if nothing was wrong, cheerful and calm. “Does anyone speak psycho?” Handsome Jack looked around at each of them in turn, not getting any reaction but fear from them. “No? Ah, well.” Without any warning, Handsome Jack pulled his pistol out of the holster on his leg, spun it once around his finger, and shot with an outstretched arm. The bullet hit the psycho with a loud _thump_ and a scream as the creature dropped to the ground, dead.

Rhys flinched at the sound of the gun going off. He had never been this close to the actual _kill_ that followed the sound. It was slightly sickening: the way the body just fell over, the life completely gone from the thing that was just walking. Breathing. Though, the way that Handsome Jack stood, the confidence that oozed off the man, was addicting. Rhys could feel an embarrassing boner threatening to make an appearance.

Rhys shifted his feet, feigning simply being uncomfortable. Hopefully his boss wouldn't be able to tell. Rhys would never live it down if Handsome Jack did notice, or Vasquez or Vaughn for that matter. Rhys needed to get rid of this boner _fast_. He shuffled back a bit and tried to picture something that would make it go away. It didn’t help that Handsome Jack was strutting around, proud of his kill. Rhys shook his head and focused. He thought about his parents, his arm getting re-adjusted, Vaughn naked (surprisingly made it get worse, but he would think about that later, _much later_ ), and then Vasquez in a bikini. Rhys didn’t get more than the vague outline of the image before his boner wilted and died. _Yep_ , he thought to himself. _That did it_.

Handsome Jack put the gun back into its holster and brushed off his hands, a firm smirk in place. “Well boys, aren’t you just loving Pandora?” He gave a look to Vaughn, who was gagging off to the side. “It's only going to get worse from here. Those things are everywhere and they definitely will want to kill you. Okay, maybe not just kill. They want to eat your eyes and wear your face. But hey, on the bright side you’ll be dead by then. Hopefully.”

“But why the eyes?” Vaughn’s voice was small. He looked like he really didn’t want to hear the answer.

Handsome Jack got a wicked grin on his face. He leaned close to Vaughn like he was telling a secret, but spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. “I think they like the way it explodes in their mouths.” He made a fist and then burst it open next to Vaughn’s face with a popping sound. “Ahh, refreshing.”

“Yeah,” Rhys shuddered at the thought. Yep, that was going to be in his dreams tonight. “That’s real comforting.”

“Hey, I tried.” Handsome Jack shrugged and started walking again. “Better stay close, kiddos. You never know what could go bump in the middle of the day around here.” At that, the other three scurried along after their boss, not wanting to be alone on Pandora.

They took a few turns in the more or less vacant town until Handsome Jack lead them to a slightly more populated area. There were a few people out on the street, some of them pretty visibly drunk. One girl, who definitely looked like she had a night job, reached out to touch Vaughn, but Handsome Jack calmly shooed her away. There was an inn next to what Rhys assumed was a bar. Their boss lead them inside quickly.

Handsome Jack walked into the inn with purpose, like he already knew where to go. The inn was quiet except for the old man at the counter. He he was bent over the counter, and for a horrifying moment Rhys couldn’t tell of the man was sleeping or dead. Handsome Jack didn’t have the same problem; the CEO walked up to the desk and slammed his hand down. The man sat up quickly, a snort coming from his mouth. Rhys let out a small yell at the sudden movement, his body shaking like a leaf.

“How can I help you?” The man's raspy voice chilled Rhys. It reminded him of the old cartoon villains he used to watch. Was everyone on Pandora evil? It was really beginning to look like it.

“Do you have any rooms free?” Handsome Jack asked, surprisingly nicely. Handsome Jack, CEO of Hyperion, was being polite to someone?

“I have one, but it doesn't have enough room for all your boys here.” The old man gave them a bored look. “Unless you all want to pile onto a double.”

Handsome Jack made a _tch_ noise and leaned closer. “Not even for Handsome Jack?”

The man didn’t even widen his eyes, nothing. Rhys admired the old man's resolve. Rhys himself would have tripped over himself to make Handsome Jack happy enough to not be killed. “I have one room. It has a double. Take it or kill someone here for their room.”

Handsome Jack paused, contemplating the murder of some unsuspecting inn patron before shaking his head. “That one will do.” He turned to the rest of his ‘adventure crew’ with a shrug. “You boys better get used to the floor.”

Vaughn piped up, giving Rhys a sly look. “Sir, Rhys can’t sleep on the floor. The robotic arm is uncomfortable to sleep with at night, so he won’t be any use if he doesn’t get any sleep.” Rhys didn’t know if he wanted to strangle his friend or kiss him.

Handsome Jack nodded and took the keys from the old man before turning back to the others. “Looks like you’re sleeping with me, Rhysie.”

Rhys squeaked. He really did not think that was what his boss was going to say. Rhys would definitely kiss Vaughn for this. He reached his hand down in a fist and Vaughn answered with his own, bumping them together discretely. “Okay, that sounds fine with me.”

Handsome Jack responded with a smirk before motioning to the door. “Sleep can wait. Time to find some information.” Rhys had a bad feeling that ‘finding’ information probably actually meant hurting somebody into submission.

All of the group knew that they had to venture out of the relative safety of the inn for their search for information. Some of the men definitely looked more excited than others--as in Handsome Jack seemed eager to get moving while the other three very much dreaded venturing back out into the Pandoran dangers. Despite being in town, none of them felt safe. Even Handsome Jack kept his hand near the pistol in its holster as they exited the inn, Rhys noticed.

As soon as the small group stepped outside, Rhys instantly felt uncomfortable. The locals glared at the Hyperion men like they wanted to eat them as they passed. A few of the townspeople--who all looked much tougher than Rhys, Vaughn, and Vasquez--appeared to recognize Handsome Jack and steered clear of the infamous CEO. It was actually lucky that the man had tagged along on the mission; if he hadn’t, the others would have likely already been dead.

They arrived in front of the bar next door and Rhys looked up at the impressive building. It had a huge neon sign of someone’s name--Rhys guessed it was the owner’s name--but it had no significance to Rhys, so he ignored it. Handsome Jack seemed to hesitate for a brief second before pushing the door to the bar open and stepping inside. Rhys cocked his head to the side slightly, confused by his boss’ pause. He had never known Handsome Jack to be the overly-cautious type. Sure the guy was careful, but he never let it show. Ever. What was he so nervous about? Was he...scared? Rhys really hoped not. If Handsome fucking Jack was afraid, Rhys should be _terrified_.

Vaughn gently tapping Rhys’ shoulder brought him out of his thoughts. The PA shook his head like he was trying to physically jostle the worry from his mind. Vaughn motioned with a head nod to the door; glancing around showed Rhys that Handsome Jack and Vasquez were gone. They were likely already inside. Taking the hint, Rhys took a shaky breath and headed inside with Vaughn in tow.

Once inside, Rhys took a moment to just...observe. The bar was dark, but not so dark that it affected visibility. It was surprisingly colorful inside--unlike the rest of Pandora--though everything seemed diluted from the darkness and age. Flat, not-very-squishy carpets covered parts of the hardwood floors in patterned crimson. Neon lights in the shape of stars decorated the walls, along with some (stolen?) stop lights. The air was musty, yet not unpleasant. Rhys took note of three main areas of the bar: a sitting area, the bar, and the back.

Tables were set up in most of the bar’s floor area, all the way from the entrance to the bar counter. It wasn’t exactly crowded, but there were a lot of tables. Not many of the tables were full of customers; most were empty and about a third of them held one or two patrons each. It seemed to Rhys that many of the people on Pandora preferred solitude, so most of the customers didn’t speak to one another. There was a low buzz of chatter, loud enough that the conversations jumbled together and yet not noisy enough to require someone to shout to be heard.

Between the mass of tables was a path that led from the door up to the bar counter. Currently, it didn’t look like anybody was working; maybe they were back in the room behind the bar? The counter itself looked like it was salvaged from old appliances with a long slab of wood stuck on top. String lights hung above the counter illuminated the bar area more than the rest of the large room. Draping curtains (that reminded Rhys of the type that hangs above stages) framed the top of the bar alcove. And finally, Rhys noted the floor-to-ceiling shelves behind the counter that housed every alcohol you could imagine, including brands he had never seen or heard of before.

The last area of importance was what Rhys deemed ‘the back.’ It sat to the side of the bar and literally nobody was occupying the space. All it had was a few old slot machines and a door that was ominously labeled ‘DO NOT ENTER!’

As Rhys’ eyes scanned the room, his eyes fell on his boss, who he was quite shocked to find staring at him. Handsome Jack must have been waiting for Rhys and Vaughn to enter because as soon as he had their attention, he turned to walk silently towards the bar, weaving his way past tables and chairs to get there.

Handsome Jack walked with a purpose; he scanned the empty bar. He walked up to the counter, leaning over slightly to find someone. Rhys was almost afraid his boss would get behind the bar and pour himself a drink if nobody was here to wait on him. Just when Handsome Jack was getting agitated, a woman walked from what looked to be a private room.

The woman had short dark hair, curled slightly at the ends. The woman that Rhys assumed was the bartender didn’t...look the part. Her outfit was revealing, to say the least, and brightly colored. She stuck out like a sore thumb on Pandora--a sore and...attractive thumb. She walked with a slight bounce of her hips. It was obvious that she knew she had every eye in the room on her. Her thick makeup and serious look made Rhys feel intimidated. Unlike the other girls they saw before with sort of the same look, this woman felt powerful. Rhys’ eyes trailed down to her, ah, assets. He turned to see Vasquez looking only at the bouncing bitties; the man looked transfixed. Vaughn, on the other hand, seemed more respectful, slightly. He at least pretended like he wasn’t stealing glances at them.

“Jaws up, boys,” Handsome Jack said boredly, like he had expected nothing less. He wasn’t even looking at the other three men, but he just seemed to know what they were doing. “You don’t want what she has to offer.”

“Oh~ What a sight for sore eyes.” The woman bent over counter suggestively. “Hey, Handsome. What can I do to you today?” Her voice was low, sultry. Rhys looked over to his boss. Were they close?

Handsome Jack stared her square in the face, jaw set in slight annoyance. “Moxxi.”

“Now why would you say my name like that? We haven't seen each other in such a long time. Let's go to the back and get re-acquainted.”


	4. A Little Mouse Told Me

“We can talk right here.” Handsome Jack gave the woman a hard look. She didn’t seem too intimidated.

“Alright alright, I get it. You are all business and no fun now.” Moxxi poured Handsome Jack a drink and passed it to the him. The man looked down at the drink and then back up at Moxxi. “What? I didn’t poison it. Bad for business.” Handsome Jack rolled his eyes and picked up the glass to take a deep swallow. He sat, then motioned to the other stools next to him for the others to join him. Rhys took the one on his boss’ left side and Vasquez took his right. Vaughn sat next to Rhys and pulled the stool closer, not wanting to be too far away from the others.

Rhys zoned out while Handsome Jack and the woman named Moxxi started talking about the missing money and something about local gangs. He looked around at the people in the bar. None of them seemed particularly noteworthy until one specific patron caught his attention.

He was in the far section of the bar, off in a corner towards the door, and was staring directly at Rhys. He was possibly the most intimidating man Rhys had ever seen, even scarier-looking than Handsome Jack. The man was wearing all dark clothing, and a lot of it for how hot Pandora was. Calf-height boots were tucked into black pants with straps and zippers and buckles that didn’t make sense to Rhys. His torso was all layers: a mess of various baggy and torn shirts, topped with a heavy cloak that slung over one shoulder to the other and bunched around the front to conceal most of his neck. A hood covered his head and cast a shadow over half of his face, but what Rhys could see made a cold shiver run down his spine. The man had a corpse-like gaunt face with alpine cheekbones that accentuated the thinness of his features. His eyes looked dead, like a mourner’s eyes, framed by barely-visible brows. The nose led down, slightly crooked, to lips as thin as razor blades. His skin hung loosely around his wide, expressionless mouth: a mouth that suggested both tenderness and cruelty and neither at the same time. Long, unkept hair hung in front of the man’s face down to the tip of his nose and a stubbly beard adorned his face; the subtle grayness of the locks suggested some age to the Pandoran, though Rhys would guess that he wasn’t much older than Handsome Jack. The two men looked at each other for a long time--with Rhys being much more visibly and nervously affected by the staredown--before the native Pandoran glanced to Rhys’ side at Handsome Jack, pulled the bunched up bit of his shawl up to cover the lower half of his face, and weaved his way between tables to exit the bar.

The man left at the same time Handsome Jack hit Rhys’ shoulder to get his attention. “Rhysie. I brought you here to learn things, not stare at the good people of Pandora.” His boss's voice was hard and Rhys snapped to attention. Their whole small group was staring at him and he could feel an embarrassed blush coming over his face.

“Ah, sorry.” Rhys turned to look at Moxxi. “What are we talking about?”

“‘Rhyise,’ hm?” Moxxi gave Handsome Jack a wiggle of her eyebrows. “Is this the boy I've been hearing so much about?”

Handsome Jack stiffened in his chair. “What do you mean you've ‘heard about’? Do you have people in my company?”

“Calm down, big boy, I don’t have an interest in your little company. I do have friends that have an interest, though. It’s just something I’ve heard, Jack.”

“Rhys isn’t something to be hearing about.” Handsome Jack clenched his hand. “ _Was it him_?”

“You seem to already know the answer to that. I don’t know why you’re surprised that I associate with him. I am still his friend after all.”

“That speaks loads for your taste in men.”

“I did date you, after all.” She looked smug at that. Handsome Jack just exhaled loudly through his nose.

Rhys watched the back and forth rapidly. This was Handsome Jack's _ex_? Rhys knew that his boss was way out of his league, but the idea of meeting someone that Handsome Jack was with was surreal. Moxxi was intimidating and dangerous, someone you would expect to see with Handsome Jack. Also the fact she was undeniably female didn’t help any. Rhys had been living off of backhanded rumors from strangers that claimed to have one night stands with the CEO. Rhys religiously followed a blog that tried to confirm Handsome Jack’s interest in men, don’t judge him.

“Let's not bring up my bad judgement.” Handsome Jack's face was twisted into a barely-polite smile. “Rhys is my employee, nothing more. You can tell that to him the next time he comes by to gossip.” Handsome Jack stood up from the stool. “Let’s go.” He started walking, not waiting for the others to follow.

The others scrambled after their boss, giving Moxxi polite but rushed goodbyes. The woman shook her head. Handsome Jack just never got easier to deal with.

Handsome Jack was muttering to himself, soft cuss words spilling from his lips as he stalked down the street with seemingly no direction. They three men were at a loss for a bit, letting Handsome Jack move them farther away from the inn.

“Ah, sir?” Rhys walked a bit faster, his long legs catching up to his bosses quickly. “Where are we going?” He asked lightly, hoping that he didn't anger his boss more.

Handsome Jack stopped and took a breath before looking around at his surroundings. “There’s a few places I can think of.” He took off down an alleyway without any other words. Vasquez and Vaughn followed after the CEO quickly, but Rhys hung back for a moment, watching him go. Handsome Jack had “a few places” he could think of? What was that supposed to mean? How familiar was his boss with this place? Rhys caught Vaughn looking back at him and scurried forward to catch up with the rest of the group.

They took a few turns that seemed carefully plotted out like Handsome Jack knew exactly where they were going before arriving in a dark alley off of an unused side street. About halfway through the passageway was a dirty old door leading into one of the buildings, a structure that looked like a warehouse. Handsome Jack stopped right in front of it and gave a short series of knocks that sounded like some type of code to Rhys. Nothing happened for a long time and Rhys was about to ask his boss if they should just go when the door cracked open no more than a few inches.

Handsome Jack bent slightly at the waist, looking in through the doorway to the inky blackness of the interior beyond. “Come on out. It’s me,” he said softly, gently. The door opened enough for a small, scraggly boy to squeeze out before reaching behind himself to shut it. “Boys, meet Mouse.”

The kid couldn’t have been older than fifteen or sixteen, Rhys reckoned. With his buck teeth, freckles, and big ears, the street rat definitely did look like a mouse. His hair was black and matted and his clothes were so filthy that Rhys couldn’t tell what color they had originally been. He looked at Handsome Jack with a light expression, something strange. The boy took two steps forward and flung himself at Handsome Jack, pulling the man into a hug. Rhys felt the tension rise in his body. Did this kid have a death wish?

“I haven't seen you in so long!” Mouse said with a smile, his expression pure. Vaughn looked over at Rhys, afraid that their boss was about to shoot some cute kid. Rhys turned back to the strange scene, shuffling a bit closer to try to pry the kid of the CEO. To their surprise, Handsome Jack patted the kid's head. No violent movements or backing away. A gentle pat on the head from a man who had killed millions and laughed about it. Rhys was _floored_. What the hell was going on?!

“You know I have a business to run.” Was that a hair ruffle Rhys just saw? “Did you get the stuff I sent down here last time?”

“Yeah! I loved the clothes.” He backed away from Handsome Jack a bit and looked down. “They are a bit dirty now though.”

“Take them to Moxxi,” Handsome Jack instructed. “She’ll clean them for you and give you a warm bath. You haven’t forgotten to ask for help when you need it, have you?”

“No, Mister Jack,” Mouse responded, shaking his head a bit too vigorously. “I just don't like bugging Miss Moxxi.”

“Good lad,” Handsome Jack said with an affectionate smile. His face grew serious again after a short moment, though. “Listen, Mouse. Have you heard of anything strange going on around town?”

Mouse furrowed his brows, looking worried. “Are you in trouble?”

Handsome Jack let out a dry chuckle. “I’m never in trouble, kiddo, don’t worry about me. But I did lose a lot of money recently. What’ve you heard?”

The boy hesitated before motioning for Handsome Jack to come closer. The older man bent a bit, giving Mouse his ear. He reached up on his tippy toes to whisper. “There is a lot of money being spent around here. It's strange. I followed a guy once; he was buying a _bunch_ of stuff, but he went to a mechanic and he dropped _a lot_ of dough. I didn't figure out what it was for, though.”

The CEO paused to make sure that Mouse was done speaking before standing up straight again with a short nod. He was quiet for a long time, processing the information, before just giving a big smile to Mouse. “Thanks, kiddo.” Handsome Jack turned to leave, hesitated, then turned back around, dropping to one knee to pull Mouse into a hug. “Keep out of trouble, alright?” he whispered to the boy. Mouse nodded and Handsome Jack pulled away, turning and walking right back out of the alley without another word.

The other three kept looking at each other, not knowing what the hell happened. A few minutes of awkward silence had Handsome Jack looking back at the others. “He isn't my kid, if that's what you’re thinking.”

Vasquez stumbled on himself. “No. Wasn't thinking that at all, sir.”

Handsome Jack let out a snort. “Then you are an idiot,” he said. Vasquez made a face as they rounded another corner. “He is a good kid but he doesn't have any parents. When I was more into the vault hunting business, I needed information. I found this child doing info work. We-- I took him out of some bad people's hands and gave him a job. All he has to do is report to me about things down here and he gets clothes, money, and food,” Handsome Jack explained. Rhys heard a small chuckle coming out of his boss' mouth. “I'm proud of that kid.”

Rhys didn't know what to say to that. It was strange to hear Handsome Jack talking about someone with so much care. “He seems like a sweet boy,” Rhys agreed.

“Yeah.” Handsome Jack grew quiet at that. It looked like he had more to say, but didn’t want to. He cleared his throat as they continued to walk in silence, not looking at any of them nor back over his shoulder at Mouse. In fact, it was some time before the CEO spoke again at all. When he did, they were at their next location.

Rhys looked up at the building’s sign: it had a burlesque-type lady, like the kind you’d see on a strip club sign, and the name “Scooter’s” in large letters underneath. Handsome Jack headed in without pause, so the others followed.

The inside was much of the same: everything seemed worn down. Mechanical parts were strewn about the large space and some type of country music played in the background. It wasn't long before a man began to walk towards them. He wore oil-stained overalls and a dirty baseball cap with the shop’s logo. Rhys guess that the guy was the same age as himself, if not younger. The man walked straight up to Handsome Jack and stuck his dirty hand out for the other man to shake.

“Haven't seen this face in a long time! Except, ya know, on posters and stuff. I have you on th’ wall over there now.” The man pointed to said wall. It had a large poster of Handsome Jack with his arms spread wide. Unfortunately, it was covered in a bunch of varying graffiti. The most notable were the large mustache the CEO now sported and the giant dick next to his head.

“I see your mother helped you decorate,” Handsome Jack said begrudgingly. His eyes never leaving the poster as he shook the man's hand maybe a bit to tightly.

“Yeah, she did,” he said in his heavy accent. The man's goofy laugh rang through the space. “Speaking of, does my ma know you’re here? On Pandora?”

A look of slight discomfort crossed Handsome Jack’s face at that question. “We just came from her bar,” he responded, looking impatient with the direction the small talk was headed.

“Oh that's good, then. She won't say it, but I know she misses ya.” He turned to Rhys and the others for a moment, sticking out his hand again. “I'm Scooter, sorry I didn't introduce myself first. This guy right here is a sight for sore eyes, if I do say so myself.”

“Uh, it's alright, honestly. I'm Rhys and this is Vaughn.” Rhys paused. “And Vasquez,” he added like an afterthought.

Handsome Jack didn’t seem quite as thrilled about talking to Scooter as he was about Mouse and he tried to push the conversation along. “Scooter,” he said sternly to get the boy’s attention, pulling him out of a conversation that he was having with Rhys about his stupid not-tie tie. “We don’t have time to talk. A little mouse told me that there’s been a lot of money floating around in town lately, and that a certain mechanic might have come into a large sum of it.” Handsome Jack didn’t know for certain that Scooter was the engineer in question, but it was a safe guess seeing as Scooter was the best technician this side of Pandora.

“Oh, the Skelerakk guy!” Scooter started to say something else before a girl who looked to be in her late teen years popped out from underneath a car on one of those slidey things that looked like a skateboard.

“That guy was a dick,” she said, sitting up. The woman had grease caked into her--what looked to be--blonde hair. She had a dark headband to keep the hair out of her face as she worked, a bandage on her nose, and a badly-scarred neck.

“That's Springs, She doesn't like anyone from that gang.”

“It's because they are a gang, Scooter.”

“Don't mind her.” Scooter brushed off the girl. “They aren't bad people, ya know. I got a buddy who joined them not to long ago. But anyways, a guy came in here lookin’ for a weapon and that's not my kind of deal, so I tried to turn ‘im down. He showed me his ideas, though, and it looked to be fun so I took it on. Even though I dunno how to do what he asked for, Springs here is real good at that type o’ work! The pay wasn't bad at all, either. I might be able to open a new shop after everything's done.”

That information seemed to perk Handsome Jack up. He looked between Springs and Scooter. Recognition dawned on his face, mixed with an emotion that Rhys could quite place. Fear? Hurt? He wasn’t sure, but he knew it wasn’t something that he often saw his boss express.

“What kind of weapon?” Handsome Jack asked stiffly, all business.

“Come over here and I'll show you,” Scooter said, getting excited. He ushered them over to a wall with blueprints on them. Rhys had zero idea what he was looking at, but from the glare Handsome Jack was giving the paper, his boss definitely knew.

“It's a big-ass laser, honestly. No idea what he’s usin’ it for, but for the amount o’ money he gave us, I'm not gonna say no.”

Handsome Jack stepped in front of Scooter, looking over the plans with curiosity. His eyes scanned them quickly, trying to make sense of why the Skelerakk gang would need something so large and powerful. Eventually, after literally a few minutes of him just staring at the blueprints, he turned back around to face Scooter and Springs. “How much?”

“Too much,” Springs butted in. She stood in front of the blueprint with her arms crossed. “Two billion is a lot on Pandora. Two billion in _cash_ on Pandora spells trouble. I don't trust it one bit.”

“Come on now, Springs.” Scooter looked liked this was a regular argument between them. “Not in front o’ the nice people.”

“Um, excuse me?” Vaughn pulled up. “Two billion? Like with a B?”

“See even the Hyperion guys are weirded out by it,” Springs argued, motioning to them. “It's weird and we are going to be in a world of trouble.”

The CEO didn’t even look surprised. If anything, more realization dawned on him. “So that explains half of it…” he murmured, rubbing his temple in annoyance. “You mentioned something about a friend. Some new initiate? Where can I find him?” Handsome Jack asked, staring at Scooter intently.

“Oh yeah Craig. He's probably over in my ma's place. He goes by Razor now, though. He wanted to fit in with the others.” Scooter shook his head good naturedly. “He’ll talk to ya.”

“He better hope he does,” Handsome Jack grumbled before speaking up at normal volume again. “Do me a favor. Don’t do any more work on this weapon until I get to the bottom of this.” It didn’t sound like a “favor” that anyone in their right might would refuse. It was more like...a direct order from Handsome Jack himself.

“Can do, boss.” Scooter smiled, his missing teeth showing. “If you’re asking, then I'm sure it's for a good reason.” Springs started to stomp away, her hands in the air.

Handsome Jack just gave a curt nod before turning towards the exit. “Let’s go,” he instructed his Adventure Crew. They followed him out quickly, not wanting to be left behind. Scooter waved goodbye enthusiastically, yelling good luck wishes after them.

Back to the bar. It wasn’t too far of a walk from Scooter’s, but it gave Rhys a little time to think things over. How did Handsome Jack seem to know everyone on Pandora? Or, well, at least in this town? Everyone on Helios kind of just assumed that Handsome Jack never left the station. If the CEO did make trips to the planet below, they were covered up well and kept quiet from the company. But why?

They arrived within just a few minutes. Rhys briefly wondered if Scooter hated having his shop so close to his mother’s bar, or if he had done it on purpose. Or maybe it was Moxxi’s doing, wanting to keep a close eye on her son in the Pandora wasteland.

Once inside the now-familiar bar, the group followed their leader up to where they had spoken to Moxxi previously. Someone was already standing there, drunkenly hitting on the bartender, who seemed very much uninterested. Handsome Jack strode up and easily pushed the man aside, causing him to stumble and fall onto the floor.

“I’m looking for a man who goes by Razor,” Handsome Jack said quickly to Moxxi. “I was told he might hang out here. Any idea who he is?”

“That's him in the corner,” Moxxi answered and pointed to a man who was stumbling around in the back. “What do you need him for? He is one of my son's friends.”

“Seems like your son may be keeping the wrong company,” Handsome Jack spat before turning on his heel and striding over to the man in question, ignoring Moxxi’s questions behind him. He crossed the room in a few quick strides, grabbing the guy by the back of the collar and forcing him down into a chair. “Sit down, you drunk bastard,” he said, taking a seat next to him. “We need to talk, Razor.”

The man didn't really fit the name Razor. He seemed like a normal run of the mill guy. His blond hair was shaggy and he was red from alcohol, and he definitely was not what Rhys pictured when he heard the name Razor.

He looked up at Handsome Jack. “What do you need?” the man's voice was slightly high pitched and very slurred.

“What’s your name, kid?” Handsome Jack asked. “Your _real_ name.”

“Razor Bloodlust.” Handsome Jack gave the man a stern and disapproving look.

The drunk man gave in quickly at the look. “Alright, chill. My name's Craig Ferguson.” He looked a bit more sober now. “How did you know Razor wasn't my name?”

Handsome Jack just stared at him for a moment. “Yeeeah. Okay. Anyway. Heard you recently joined a little...organization. I have a few questions for you about some of your ‘friends.’”

“Are you talking about Skelerakk?” Craig gave Handsome Jack a look. “I'm a new guy I don't have much information on them.”

“Try your best,” Handsome Jack said, irritated. “Tell me what you know. Everything you know. What is the gang up to?”

“I don't honestly know. The boss man keeps everything to himself and who he trusts. There aren't many people that he does. He keeps us grunts loading up more weapons and ammo for other newbies and moving shit into the new base. I haven't even gotten to do anything cool yet.”

“Why are you moving to a new base? What’s wrong with the old one?” Handsome Jack interrogated.

“We just got a lot of new people coming in. We get at least ten everyday. Need a place to put people.” Craig shrugged. “We all have our jobs, though. Get guns, get bullets, and keep an eye out for Hyperion people.” Craig paused there. He eyed he phone on the other side of the table and slowly reached out his hand to grab it. “Speaking of…”

Handsome Jack’s reflexes were incredible. In one fluid movement, he pulled a knife out of a sheath on his calf, twirled it around in his hand, and slammed it down blade-first into Craig’s hand and the table underneath.

Craig screamed loudly. The entire bar seemed to quiet for a moment before continuing on with what they were doing. Rhys looked around, but no one was coming over to help this guy. No one even gave them strange looks, they just kept going on with their lives while this guy was screaming.

“Now then, if you don't have the answers to my questions, give me a name of someone who does.” The growl in Handsome Jack’s voice made Rhys cross his legs. Handsome Jack threatening people made Rhys’ pants grow a bit tighter.

Craig was whimpering at this point, but he looked determined not to expose a name. Handsome Jack gave the man a few more seconds before twisting the knife in his flesh. This brought on a new wave of screaming. Rhys winced slightly at the sound.

“Fuck! Fine!” Craig finally broke. “There’s this guy. He helps the boss with information, but I don't think he is one of us. He is trusted, though, I'm sure you could get something from him.”

Handsome Jack gave Craig a hard look. “Where?”

“Apartment three a block over. He is upstairs okay?!”

The CEO smiled slightly at the man. “Thank you for your cooperation,” he said, feigning politeness. Handsome Jack stood and turned to leave.

Craig called out from behind him. “Hey, wait! Your knife!” The blade was still stuck snugly in the man’s hand.

Handsome Jack didn't even stop walking as he waved the man off with a lazy hand movement and a big, evil grin as he continued his walk towards the door. “Keep it.”


	5. We're Friends, Aren't We?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **EliteKilljoy:** We celebrated a year of our roleplay (the one this fic is heavily based on) on November 19th and it's still going strong! We have a _ton_ of content for this fanfic and we're still working on the roleplay, so look forward to a lot more of this AU to come!

Rhys was not understanding anything. Handsome Jack knew so many people in this town; they had history with him. Handsome Jack _hated_ Pandora and everyone on it--or so he wanted people to believe. Rhys watched his boss stalk from one place to another trying to find the next lead. He seemed too familiar with the stairs leading up to the office. The man took a careful step on the ninth stair and turned directly for a door despite not being told which one was the correct door. Handsome Jack reached up to knock, but paused. Rhys was almost certain that he could see Handsome Jack's hand shaking. It didn't take long for the CEO to pull it together and bang loudly on the door. He said nothing, just silently glared at the wood until a man opened it.

The guy was tall and begrudgingly attractive. He was about the same height as Rhys, so he had an inch or two on Handsome Jack. His short brown hair offset his light blue eyes; Rhys had to stop himself from staring. The man’s face was average, so slightly out of place in Pandora. It was devoid of scars or facial hair; he looked like a clean-cut Hyperion worker. The man's face twisted when they opened the door to find him. He put the obvious disgust under a polite tone. “John, buddy. What are you doing down here?”

“You know, the name is Jack now, Dak.” Handsome Jack pushed his way past and made his way inside the room. The man, Dak, sighed and motioned for the others to come in, as well. Despite the mess that was Pandora, the office was surprisingly well put together. The lighting was bright and there was no mess anywhere. All of the papers and a few books were stacked neatly on a big, wooden desk towards one end of the room. The CEO had already made himself comfortable in one of the chairs in front of the desk, leaning back and propping his feet up on the surface. Rhys walked over to Handsome Jack and sat down in a chair next to him.

He passed a picture on Dak’s desk. It looked to be an old one: the sides of the picture slightly ripped and the color draining slightly. The picture seemed way too small for the frame, as it rested in the middle with empty space on either side. It looked like Dak in his younger years, along with another man who seemed vaguely familiar. They were smiling into the camera, arms looped around each other. Rhys wondered if the two were dating.

Handsome Jack shook him out of his thoughts by leaning forward and plucking a decanter of amber liquid from the desk, uncorking the glass cork and taking a big swig. The office’s owner just sighed, like he was used to that sort of thing, and took a seat behind his desk. He cautiously watched the four men in front of him--two seated, two standing on either side of them--with minute flicks of his eyes.It was obvious that the man called Dak was a little nervous, but why? Was it just because Handsome Jack’s reputation had preceded him and everyone on Pandora knew of his infamy?

“So, ah…” Dak began softly. “What are you doing here, Jo-- Jack?” The man corrected himself as Handsome Jack gave him a look. “It’s been a l-long time.”

The CEO raised a brow slightly at him as he down more of the alcohol, only speaking when the carafe was empty. Calmly setting the bottle back on the desk, Handsome Jack leaned back into his comfortable position with his dirty shoes propped up on Dak’s desk; he didn’t seem to care about the look Dak gave him.

“There’s been a distinct lack of activity from your end, _buddy_ ,” Handsome Jack said gently, like he was having a conversation with an old friend. But Rhys knew otherwise; that was Handsome Jack’s warning voice: calm and smooth on the outside, but with a dangerous undertone. Dak flinched ever so slightly at the emphasized mock of his own previous endearment. “You mean that absolutely nothing has been going on with him?”

Dak felt the sweat rolling down his face. John--no, Jack--had always been intimidating, but this was the first time he had ever been on the bad end of the glare. “Y-yeah. Dante has been pretty quiet. Just the normal, petty gang stuff,” he trialed off with a nervous giggle.

Rhys looked over to Handsome Jack with confusion. This Dante person seemed to be a big deal if the look on his boss’ face had anything to do with it, but there had been no mention of this guy before. Rhys saw Handsome Jack's eyes twitch to the picture on the desk and he wondered if Dante was the nameless man in the picture next to Dak.

That seemed to anger Handsome Jack. Rhys could see the muscles in his jaw tightening as he clenched his teeth and the PA tensed in response, readying himself for the blow up. But there was none. His boss just kept on speaking calmly--though this time it was noticeably more strained--even though his hand was gripping the armrest of the chair hard enough that Rhys could swear he heard the wood creak. Why was he holding back? Handsome Jack _never_ went easy on anyone.

“You don’t think I’m stupid, do you?” he asked, giving the man behind the desk that very much made him shrink into his seat. Rhys, Vaughn, and Vasquez all shifted uncomfortably, even though the harshness from the CEO wasn’t directed at any of them. “Don’t lie to me, Dak.”

Dak paused there. He seemed to weigh every option of how to proceed. His eyes swung over every person in the room and looked longingly to the door. The man seemed realize that he would be dead before he even got up from his desk. Dak sighed deeply and his face looked more aged than Rhys had seen. He almost looked nothing like the kid smiling in the picture. “What do you want me to say, Jack?”

In a quick, fluid movement, Handsome Jack stood from his chair and loudly slammed his fist on the top of the desk, causing a cup of pencils to tip over from the hard impact. Every other person in the room nearly jumped out of their skin at the loud bang, but mostly Dak...and Vaughn. His boss was losing his composure, Rhys knew. Guess that blow up wasn’t as far off as it seemed.

“Why did you betray me for him?!” The words flew out of Handsome Jack’s mouth in a roar. His entire body screamed anger: his aggressive stance, the tightness of his muscles all over, his red face and pissed off expression. Everything except for his eyes. There was a flash of something else there--pain?--before it was replaced with just pure rage.

Rhys flinched hard at the yell. He reached his hand out to touch Handsome Jack like he normally would when his boss got angry, but he seemed to know that now was not the time and retracted the outstretched hand back slowly to his side.

Dak, on the other hand, didn’t know what to do at this point. He fiddled with the gun that he kept under his desk, his sweaty palms stopping him from gripping it completely. “I think you know why, Jack. You’ve known for years how I felt about him. I don't know why you are surprised honestly.” His voice was hoarse but he spoke the truth. “My loyalty lies with Pandora now. As it always has.”

There was a chill in the room. It was dead quiet and Rhys could feel his pulse thud in his ears. He slowly turned his head to look at Handsome Jack.

The silence didn’t last for long, though. When Handsome Jack spoke again, it was almost as loud as his previous yell. “What fucking loyalty?!” Rhys could see his boss getting more and more heated and was terrified for the inevitable snap. Everything about Handsome Jack was _terrifying_ , chilling the other occupants of the room to the bone.

“I don’t know who told you about me, but you are wasting your time.” Dak tried to keep himself calm; he needed to reason his way out of this. He folded his hands over each other on the desk in an attempt to try to keep professional. “You won’t get anything out of me. After everything we have been through, you should know that I won’t give anything up.” Dak brought out some paperwork, his hands shaking. He tried to send a clear dismissal to them, relying on his past with Jack to keep him safe.

Handsome Jack seemed like he was trying really hard to hold himself back. His hands fisted on the armrests of his chair and Rhys watched as the man’s jaw and muscles tensed. This was it. He was going to watch the CEO explode. Rhys glanced to the Dak guy, knowing very well that he didn’t have much time left. Handsome Jack was _definitely_ going to kill him, shoot him right there. But that’s not what happened at all.

Despite his obvious frustration, Handsome Jack didn’t immediately pull his pistol out and shoot Dak. Instead, he stood, made his way to the desk in one large step, and reached over it to aggressively grab Dak by the front of his shirt. Pulling him to lean over the desk, Handsome Jack bent at the waist to meet halfway, leaving the two only mere inches apart. “You better rethink that real quick,” Handsome Jack growled intimidatingly.

Dak stared at Handsome Jack for a moment before trying to get away. The man struggled against the hand holding him as he reached down to grab the gun under the desk. He gripped the weapon and tried to point it at Handsome Jack with a shaky hand.

The movement was quick, but Handsome Jack was faster. Just before Dak’s arm outstretched directly at him, Handsome Jack swept his hand to side, easily smacking the pistol out of Dak’s hand. It flew aside and hit the wall, falling to the floor several feet away with a loud bang. The others in the room jumped, surprised by the fast movement and noise. Handsome Jack wasn’t finished, though, and advanced. He released Dak’s collar and immediately surged forward to grab the other man by the throat instead.

Dak struggled, choked breaths escaping him as he looked at Handsome Jack with frightened eyes. Rhys stood up from his chair quickly and put a hand on Handsome Jack’s should. “Jack! You don't have--” Handsome Jack easily shoved the hand off of his shoulder and tightened his grip on Dak’s throat. It was like the CEO didn’t even think it was worth his time to argue with Rhys. The distance caused by the desk was too great for Handsome Jack, so he pushed back against Dak and released, effectively shoving the man backwards. The man stumbled backwards and fell into the wall and Handsome Jack began prowling threateningly around the desk to get closer to Dak. He took long strides and reached Dak quickly, instantly punching the younger man square on the nose. There was a disgusting crunch that signalled Dak’s nose breaking from the strike.

The informant cried out and reached up to hold his bleeding nose. He leaned heavily against the wall until he started to slip down onto the floor. Dak let his bloody hand fall from his face while he looked up at Handsome Jack. He stared at the man for a moment before he started to laugh. It was slow, on the edge of crying and laughter, a slight hysteria shining through. He smiled broadly at Handsome Jack, his bloody teeth on display.

“Not going to stop for your new boy toy, huh?” Dak turned to Rhys, offering his condolences. “Guess he doesn’t love you as much as he loved the last one. Dante had John wrapped around his little finger.”

Rhys tried not to feel hurt. He turned to Handsome Jack, but the man wasn’t paying attention to him at all. His boss very much looked like he was trying his best not to just explode. Handsome Jack knelt down, hovering over Dak and getting right up in his face again. When he spoke, it was rough and angry and scary, but not especially loud. “If you’re on his side now, then you’re worthless to me.”

Dak looked up at Handsome Jack, horror overcoming his face. He knew that he was going to die there. “No! Come on John we’re friends, aren't we?”

The words didn’t get to Handsome Jack at all. He quickly moved to straddle Dak, gripping the front of the man’s shirt with one hand to hold him in place while absolutely wailing on him with his other. As soon as one punch hit its mark on Dak’s face, another was quick to follow. Handsome Jack’s pistol sat snugly in its holster, forgotten. There was little Dak could do under the weight of the older man, resigning himself to literally begging for his life. Handsome Jack spoke over him, forcefully grunting out words between blows. “You were always my friend, Dak.” The man in question let out a whimper, vision blurring from the force of the repeated impacts. “But I was never yours.” Handsome Jack paused in his rage. He stared down at Dak, an expression crossed his face that Rhys had never seen on him before. He couldn’t for the life of him decipher what it meant. “You left John out there in the desert.” The hits that came next seemed heavier and the pleading more desperate.

Rhys had to turn his head, unable to watch anymore. The sounds wouldn't get out of his head: Dak pleading for his life, the sound of flesh hitting flesh, and the thudding of Rhys’ own heart in his ears as he sat by and let a man be killed. Rhys was going to remember this day for as long as he lived. He didn’t even know this man, but no one deserved a death like this. Even so, Rhys did _nothing_. Rhys just put an arm around Vaughn’s shoulders and tried to turn him to hide the sight from his friend. Vasquez seemed resigned somehow. Sure, there was _a lot_ of death at Hyperion, but this…

Rhys looked back at Handsome Jack. The man was huffing and Dak had seemed to go quiet. Splatters of blood covered the CEO's face as he knelt over the lifeless body. Rhys couldn't even recognise Dak anymore. Maybe that was the point. Rhys felt himself gag and turn away. Every death he had ever seen was quick, or relatively quick. This was long, painful, and personal.

Handsome Jack stayed there for a long while, kneeling over the body of his departed friend. The room was silent, a thick tension filling the air. After a few minutes, their boss stood slowly and stepped away from the body. Turning his attention to the cluttered desk, Handsome Jack steadily made his way over. At first, his eyes just scanned the multiple piles of papers like he was determining which one might hold the information he was searching for. He moved forward and began slowly sifting through the stacks.

His eyes darted back and forth on the pages, skimming through all of the information as quickly as possible. Whenever Handsome Jack was finished with one document, he would toss it to the side to let it flutter to the ground. As his questions remained unanswered with each page he read, Handsome Jack grew more and more unstable. His movements sped, flinging papers with reckless abandon throughout the office. He was bent over, hands moving frantically to find answers that just weren’t there. Handsome Jack’s eyes were wild. Desperate. His rage built up as he continued to be disappointed, eventually leading to him sweeping his arms to push everything off onto the floor with a thunderous roar.

All three of the other men in the room nearly jumped out of their skin at the shout, though Vasquez was the only one who tried his best to hide it. Vaughn glanced to Rhys like he should do something, but Rhys didn’t even see him. He was too busy watching his boss, standing there with both hands supporting himself on the desk, panting heavily. Rhys had seen Handsome Jack angry--hell, he had even seen him _furious_ \--but this felt different. It seemed...raw.

The world around Rhys slowed as he watched his boss. He was caught somewhere between petrified and concerned. Handsome Jack had just beaten a man to death in front of his very eyes; it was horrific and terrifying. Then again, Rhys had also never seen the man look so broken up over killing somebody. It was unusual for Handsome Jack to not just outright shoot someone: it was faster, easier. But no, not with Dak. With Dak, it was personal.

Handsome Jack stood in the middle of the room, looking at all the destruction he caused. His eyes moved over the body of Dak and up to the others watching him. “Get out,” he said. His voice was thick and angry. The others rushed out of the room. Vasquez tripped over the body and crawled the rest of the way out of the room. Rhys hesitated, out of fear or concern, he didn't know.

“I said: Get. Out.” Handsome Jack seemed more tired than before. He sank in Dak’s abandoned chair slowly, not looking at Rhys. They sat in silence for a few moments before Rhys started to speak up.

“Sir, I--”

“Rhys.” His boss cut him off. “Give me a minute. Just…” Handsome Jack trailed off, seeing something. He reached down and picked up the picture of Dak and the other man. Staring at it hard for a moment, Handsome Jack took the picture out of the frame. He unfolded a section that Rhys didn’t know was there. Handsome Jack was silent as he ripped the picture in half and stuck the pieces in his pocket. “Leave me alone for a minute, cupcake.” The man finally looked up at Rhys. Handsome Jack looked tired and something else Rhys couldn’t quite place. It was strange seeing so much emotion in Handsome Jack.

“Right.” Rhys fumbled, unable to keep the loaded stare with his boss. “I'll be outside then.” He moved through the room and out the door quickly. Once outside in the hall, Rhys leaned against the now-closed door and took a breath. What had just happened?

Vaughn cautiously made his way over to Rhys, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. He looked more worried about his friend than about their boss in the other room. “Rhys…?” Vaughn’s voice was quiet, not knowing what to say to him. “What happened in there? Why did you come out late? Is everything--”

“Everything’s fine, Vaughn,” Rhys replied, quiet and calm. He had too much on his mind to give Vaughn a better answer, and really didn’t want to talk about how defeated their boss looked in front of Vasquez. Maybe he would tell him later. Or maybe not. For some reason, Rhys felt the need to protect Handsome Jack’s privacy after seeing him so upset like that.

The trio fell silent after that, including Vasquez who always had something witty and stupid to say. What they all just experienced in there seemed to affect all of them, not just Rhys. The three of them moved to sit down against the wall, Rhys and Vaughn on one side of the hall with Vasquez directly opposite them. It was several minutes later when the door opened and Handsome Jack stepped out, looking irritated.

“Alright, let’s get this show on the road,” he said simply, beginning to stroll down the hallway without waiting for the others to catch up.


	6. What Goes Bump in the Night

Handsome Jack was quiet for a long time after that. Rhys didn't know what to say to the irate man. The CEO just kept pacing and if he wasn't doing that he was staring off into space with a clear killing intent. Rhys had seen anger and murderous rage on his boss’ face before, but nothing like this. It almost felt intimate. 

They had gone back to the inn after the…incident, the three underlings following their boss like lost ducklings. Rhys couldn't help but get jumpy if he trailed too far behind Handsome Jack for even a moment. The CEO didn't seem like he was in the mood to save Rhys if it came down to it. Rhys stuck close to Vaughn, and even Vasquez didn't have anything to say. The bearded man looked sick, to be honest; it was strange to see Vasquez so uneasy. 

The inn room was hardly big enough for the four of them and being stuck in a small danky room with an irritated Handsome Jack made Rhys feel like he was in a cage with an extremely pissed off tiger. He was afraid to be eaten. 

Vaughn and Vasquez began setting a place up on the floor to sleep as it started to get dark. Rhys sent a pleading look at Vaughn, but received no sympathy. Earlier, when they first checked into the hotel, Vaughn had convinced their boss to let Rhys sleep with him due to his “bad robot arm.” Rhys had been looking forward to sharing a bed with Handsome Jack until he realized he could _die_ now.

The man in question took off his shoes and started to strip himself down to his sweater and boxers. Rhys had to force himself to look away from the newly exposed skin he had never seen. Handsome Jack was still as attractive as ever, even if Rhys had a new healthy dose of fear put into him. The CEO threw his clothes in a corner of the room and plopped himself onto the bed. Handsome Jack was starting to seem “normal” again: the brooding look was going away, or at least being hidden. He looked at Rhys and patted the side of the too-small twin bed. The creaking of the springs rang like a death toll to Rhys as his bodyweight sagged the old mattress down a few inches.

Handsome Jack leaned back onto the dingey bed, arms behind his head in a totally relaxed position. Though...like that, he was taking up most of the space on the bed. The man hummed a soft tune that Rhys didn’t recognize before realizing that his employee wasn’t moving down to lay with him. “Come on, Rhysie, I don’t bite,” Handsome Jack said in a low voice.

Rhys froze. _No but you did just strangle someone to death right in front of me an hour ago_. Handsome Jack rolled his eyes and grabbed Rhys by the back of his shirt collar, pulling Rhys down onto the bed next to him. The PA took a hard swallow and lay stiffly beside his boss. Rhys was afraid, but also couldn’t help noticing that every place they touched was faintly warm. He was slowly starting to relax, but the quiet tension in the room was getting to him. The four of them--two on the floor, two in the tiny bed--were silent, aside from Handsome Jack’s soft humming. It seemed like no one knew what to say.

When no verbal reply came, the CEO shifted onto his side to look over at Rhys. A smirk was planted solidly on Handsome Jack’s face, like he was proud of some stupid shit he was about to say. “Come on, Rhysie. Loosen up,” he purred. “Not the first time I’ve said that.” _Oh yeah, definitely some stupid shit_. He slapped a hand a bit roughly onto Rhys’ stomach and chuckled softly. “You’re so stiff. ...Also not the first time I’ve said that.”

Rhys let out a hard breath at the smack. He rolled his eyes and finally looked at Handsome Jack; the man looked the same as always. Maybe Rhys didn’t need to be afraid of him. Rhys gave his boss a shaky smile. “You are just full of sex puns tonight aren’t you?” 

“There’s my spunky PA,” Handsome Jack chuckled. “I have more, the night is still young and you are still in your clothes.” Rhys’ boss tugged on his shirt. “Get comfortable, Rhysie. I don't want to smell your sweat all night.”

Rhys rolled his eyes, but sat up on the bed. He looked over to Vaughn and Vasquez on the floor. They each had a blanket pulled around them and seemed to be fast asleep. Vaughn must have been dead tired from everything that happened that day. Rhys tried to move quietly with the knowledge the others were sleeping. He slipped off his shoes and set them to the side, but was more hesitant to take off his clothes. He had imagined this scene in his head hundreds of times, yet now that it was happening, he didn’t know how to handle it.

He swallowed his nervousness and started to strip down. With Vaughn not awake to witness his shame, he was free to slowly slip his shirt off his body. Rhys wore a white tank under his dress shirt, though he couldn’t really bring himself to take that off. _Make him work for the good stuff, Rhys_ , he said to himself. Slipping his hands down, Rhys painstakingly slid his pants down his body. A quick moment of panic made Rhys look down to make sure he wasn’t wearing his Hyperion-issued Handsome Jack boxers. He never thought he would be so grateful to see his black underwear, instead.

The PA took a breath to calm his nerves. He could imagine it now, Handsome Jack staring at him with bedroom eyes as he swept his gaze over Rhys’ body, hunger evident on his face as he could hardly hold himself back from getting off the bed to just have a touch of Rhys’ skin. Rhys felt himself shiver at the thought. He turned around with what he thought was a seductive smile on his face.

Only to see a very asleep Handsome Jack taking up most of the bed. 

Rhys turned his gaze to the ceiling a deep sigh escaping him. What did he expect? Handsome Jack wasn’t magically going to be into men and fall madly in love with him. With an annoyed groan he shuffled around the sleeping bodies and turned off the light, then made his way back to the bed and tried to move Handsome Jack. The man was dead weight as Rhys squeezed his way on the edge of the bed next to him. He felt a little weird as the only way he could fit was to press his full back against Handsome Jack’s entire strong, hard, muscular chest. Rhys shook himself from the less-than-pure thoughts. He tried to shut his mind off and go to sleep. 

Rhys woke from an uncomfortable sleep a few hours later. It had been difficult for him to get some rest in the first place because of the looming, ever-present weight of his gorgeous boss behind him. Despite Handsome Jack in the same bed with him being a dream of Rhys’, the PA felt insane pressure to live up to unreal expectations he put upon himself: don’t snore, don’t drool, don’t move around too much, _don’t wake Handsome Jack up_!

At first, Rhys was unsure why he had woken up. He wasn’t too hot or falling off the bed or anything. His boss had stolen his pillow, but Rhys was used to Vaughn doing the same thing during their college years and had no trouble sleeping without a pillow. So then what--oh. _Oh_!

The feeling that had roused Rhys from his slumber was almost too slight to notice in his drowsy state at first. Now that he was feeling more awake, Rhys could definitely feel it: Handsome Jack, the man that he had fantasized about for forever, had a very clear boner pressing against Rhys’ lower back.

Rhys was about to turn around to ask the other man what was going on when he felt an arm wrap around his waist. He tried to push down the instinctual surprised squeak, but it sounded clear as day and felt booming in the silent room. A quick glance to the floor revealed that neither of the other two men seemed to hear the noise.

The relief Rhys felt didn’t last long as all. Very shortly after, Handsome Jack started to move, grinding his hips slowly against Rhys’ back. He gasped softly at the feeling. This had to be a dream or something. It was too good to be true. Rhys needed to know if this was real, if the other man was even awake. “...Handsome Jack?” He said his name softly, trying not to moan it.

“Shhhh,” came the reply. Handsome Jack sounded so sexy, his voice deep from sleep.

Awake. Awake and _rubbing his dick against Rhys’ back_. It wasn’t quite in the right place. Rhys figured he’d help his boss out and scooted up a little on the bed until Handsome Jack’s cock was rubbing between his cheeks. He instantly felt his own length spring to life.

The movements behind Rhys sped slightly, Handsome Jack’s arm tightening around his waist for leverage. He became vaguely aware of the CEO’s large hand holding his thigh as he was dry humped from behind. _Holy shit_. Rhys could feel his dick straining in his boxers, tip already wet with precum.

Rhys could hear Handsome Jack’s erratic, yet quiet, breaths in his ear; it tickled at the back of Rhys’ neck. That’s when Rhys realized how close the other man really was to him. Aside from the obvious hardness rubbing at his ass, Rhys could feel the heat of his boss touching his entire back, lying flush up against him. Handsome Jack was holding Rhys against his body with a tight grip on Rhys’ upper thigh. Every few thrusts from behind caused the CEO’s large hand to brush up against his subordinate’s erection. The first time it had happened, Rhys had cried out loudly, loud enough for him to worry about waking the others. He slapped a hand over his mouth, muffling his moaning, as Vaughn rolled over in his sleep. Rhys almost had a heart attack, but it didn’t seem that his friend actually woke up.

He was losing his damn mind. The filthiness of the whole secret encounter was enough to push Rhys right to the edge. Reaching down, Rhys shoved his hand into his boxers to stroke himself towards completion. Based on the noises behind him and his boss’ uneven hip movements, it seemed that Handsome Jack was nearing his finish, too.

It wasn’t much longer before Rhys felt the man behind him tense, fingers digging hard into the soft flesh of Rhys’ thigh. He gasped softly as he heard Handsome Jack grunt and felt a wetness forming through the back of his underwear. A strange proudness swelled in Rhys’ chest, knowing that _he_ was the one getting _Handsome Jack_ off. Until…

“Dante--!” The CEO came with a moderately loud moan of _someone else’s name_. Normally the sensation of Handsome Jack blowing his load against his ass would make Rhys positively explode, but all he felt was his boner sadly deflating.

Rhys sat up halfway and turned around to look at his boss, surprised and confused and hurt. What he came face-to-face with was a very asleep Handsome Jack. The older man let out a loud snore as if to emphasize that fact in Rhys’ mind. Handsome Jack had been sleeping...the whole time. There was no way that he’d be in that deep of a sleep so quickly, so there was no doubt about it.

The PA was no longer able to sleep. After _that_ happened, there was no way he was going to be able to calm down. He was torn between turned on that Handsome Jack got himself off using his ass and completely heartbroken that Handsome Jack A. wasn’t awake and B. said some other name. Rhys laid awake, staring at the ceiling as he thought through everything he was feeling. 

Why was he so hurt that his boss had said somebody else’s name? A few weeks ago, Rhys would have taken this with a smile and a hard-on and said thank you. Why was it different now? Rhys sighed and flipped over completely. He stared at Handsome Jack, his face outlined by the soft light coming in through the window.

Rhys’ boss had always been attractive; that was no secret. Rhys and basically everyone else had a very healthy attraction to the man. The high demand for Handsome Jack porn confirmed that, while very scary, Handsome Jack was a sex symbol. When Rhys had gotten the job with him, he knew that he needed to put his job first. His boss had flirted and came on to him a number of times, but Rhys wanted respect from the CEO. Despite his many private trips to the bathroom after a meetings, Rhys had controlled himself because he wanted to be _respected, right_? 

Rhys quickly rubbed away the tears that were forming. Who was Dante anyways? This was the second time he had heard that name and it was slowly starting to get under his skin. Rhys wished he knew where Handsome Jack kept that picture and wondered if he could confirm if that extra man really was Dante. How important was this person that the CEO would hang on to him like this? He couldn’t imagine a man like Handsome Jack pining after someone. It just didn’t seem like him. 

Wait. Rhys paused. _Wait a second_. Dante was a _guy_. Rhys felt the realization crash into him like a wave. Handsome Jack, on some level, was into guys enough to have a wet dream about one. Rhys felt almost giddy.

His train of thought was interrupted by Handsome Jack shifting a bit and slowly opening his eyes. Rhys couldn’t look away in time as his boss stared at him in tired confusion. “Rhysie, I know I'm hot, but that doesn't excuse staring at me while I sleep.”

“I was--I was just--” Rhys fumbled with his words. God, this was just what he needed. Now his boss was going to think that he watched him sleep all night.

Handsome Jack patted Rhys’ cheek a few times, a little roughly for Rhys’ liking. An amused smirk was firmly plastered to the CEO’s face. Rhys knew he was in trouble. Handsome Jack would _never_ let him forget this. “It’s alright, cupcake. You can look, but no touching.” The man let out a loud laugh and sat up, slinging his legs over the side of the bed to begin getting dressed. “Up and at ‘em, boys! Got a lot to do today!”

His boisterous voice roused the two sleeping on the floor, simultaneous groans echoing from them. Vaughn sat up slowly, fumbling with his glasses as he tried to see a clock. “What time is it anyways?”

Vasquez groaned flipping over. “It's too early to be awake.”

Handsome Jack, who seemed to be quite the morning person after he brutally killed an old friend in front of his employees, ignored the groans and started to put on his clothes. “We have a few places to go today, ladies.” Handsome Jack looked at his communicator on his wrist. “Actually, it seems like we won't all be going some place.” The CEO turned to all three of the men in the room. “Who here knows how to shoot?”

Rhys turned to give a look go Vaughn before turning to Handsome Jack. “Do you mean like…guns?”

Handsome Jack just stared at Rhys for an uncomfortable amount of time before turning to Vasquez and Vaughn. “So Rhys is out. Can you two shoot?”

Vasquez seemed to jump at the chance to excel in something Rhys failed at. “Of course, sir, I do work for Hyperion after all.” The CEO raised an eyebrow, but waved the man off, seeming to pass his inspection. 

“What about you, specs?”

Vaughn scratched the back of his neck, looking embarrassed. Rhys rolled his eyes; of course his friend couldn't-- “I go to the gun range every once in a while.” Rhys’ jaw dropped. His best friend did what now? 

Handsome Jack looked close to impressed. “All those numbers stress you out?”

“Eh, the numbers are easy. It's the people that stress me,” Vaughn said softly. Handsome Jack tipped his head back in a hard guffaw. Rhys tried not to feel too jealous that Vaughn was the one to make his boss laugh like that.

“Well, aren't you a bag of surprises.” Handsome Jack turned around to look at Rhys again. “Looks like you get hands on training from the world's best gun expert,” he said, looking very proud of himself.

It was an effort which was wasted as Rhys cocked his head to the side, confusion on his face. “Who is that?” 

Handsome Jack looked put out by that. If it were anyone else, Rhys would have swore a pout was forming. “It's me--you know what, just forget it. Pack up your things, Rhysie. You get a school lesson today. Be a good boy and I won't have to put you in detention.” He winked at Rhys. The bright, flustered look of Rhys’ face must have soothed Handsome Jack’s ego because he turned back to his other employees with a smirk in place.

“Mouse has some intel that he’s bringing here. You both are going to wait for him and he’s going to slip a note under the door. The only reason I'm not staying to get it myself is because if that note says what I think it does, we’re going to take off and we all need to be able to shoot to get out of this one alive.”

Handsome Jack routed around in his bag and pulled out two relatively normal guns. “Here, suit up and wait for me to get back.” He tossed the guns to Vaughn--who fumbled wildly with the weapon of death--and Vazquez, who caught the thing with surprising ease that Rhys totally didn't envy. “Try not to kill each other until I get back.” Handsome Jack turned to Rhys, eyeing the man's frumpled appearance. “Get ready to go, pumpkin. Daddy’s gotta clean himself up.” With that, the CEO moved into the bathroom, leaving the other three alone. Rhys could definitely see the faint outline of a wet patch on the front of Handsome Jack’s boxers.

Rhys hurried to pull on his clothes. He didn't know how prepared he was for spending the day with his boss after said man got off on his _ass_ earlier that morning.

“Are you sure you want to go with him, dude?” Vaughn said quietly, breaking Rhys from his thoughts. 

“Yeah,” Rhys replied a bit shakily, smiling softly at Vaughn. “What could go wrong?”


End file.
